I was really inspired to make these from my friend, Ann, who sells a lot of butter mochi products in her business, Pair of Pears. She does these really delicious and toothsome butter mochi doughnuts and brownies, and it made me garner a much larger appreciation for it. For those of you unfamiliar with it, butter mochi is a Hawaiian dessert, made from glutinous rice flour, lots of butter and sugar, and evaporated milk, and typically coconut milk as well. It is baked so that the center is dense, chewy, and fudgy and the edges and crispy and golden brown. I refrain from making it because it does usually take a ton of time to bake(most recipes require upwards to an hour of baking time), and there is absolutely no nutritional value to consuming it, even though it is gluten-free! But then I realized, if I made madeleines using this batter, I could significantly cut down the baking time. That and I knew that madeleines would look pretty. I modified the usual butter mochi recipe so that there is a bit more leavening and lift from using more egg in this particular batter. And I added in blonde chocolate, because I love the caramel-y notes of it, and it goes really well with the chewy, butter flavor of the butter mochi madeleines. Lastly, just to kick it up a little more, I used brown butter for these, just because the super toasty notes of the brown butter compliment the blonde chocolate, and it gives the butter mochi a nuttier flavor to it that I find to be quite addictive.

Makes 36 madeleines:
8 oz mochiko
12 oz evaporated milk
4 tbsp brown butter
1 cup white sugar
3 eggs
2 tspn vanilla extract
1/2 tspn baking soda
3/4 tspn baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup blonde chocolate, chopped with more to garnish

In a bowl, combine all of your ingredients except for the chocolate. Once everything is mixed together, fold the chocolate pieces in. Lightly line a nonstick madeleine pan with some oil, and fill each tin all the way full – butter mochi barely rises or spreads to begin with, so you don’t really have to worry about overflowing. Garnish the tops with the blonde chocolate pieces. Bake at 375 degrees F for 14 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through to guarantee even baking.